On Thursday night, I finally got to see Victor Wembanyama, and although he had a pedestrian game by his own standards-12 points, eight rebounds, no threes-it was still a riveting experience. The game, a 126-110 San Antonio win, was moments of Wembanyama doing something, or trying to do something, interrupted by some bullshit I wasn't there to see.
Well, if it wasn't already a super talent advantage for Team World going into the NBA All-Star Game, the height advantage was definitely real. Anthony Edwards had no chance trying to win the tip over the 7'4″ Frenchman, Victor Wembanyama. Not to mention, three-time league MVP and 6'11" big man Nikola Jokić was starting right alongside him. And Wemby loves playing in these games. He came out hot, a dunk, a three, and a block over Jalen Duren, stamping out any misconceptions that "height" doesn't mean "heart." He set the pace.
Victor Wembanyama Props Wembanyama has recorded 23.9 points per game during the 2025-26 season, 1.4 points higher than Tuesday's points prop total. He has averaged 0.6 more rebounds per game (11.1) than his prop bet total in Tuesday's game (10.5). Wembanyama has averaged 2.7 assists per game this season, 0.2 more than his prop bet for Tuesday (2.5). Wembanyama's 1.8 made three-pointers per game is 0.3 more than his over/under in Tuesday's game (1.5).
Tonight's Spurs vs Rockets I-10 showdown at the Toyota Center is a massive divisional clash with both jockeying for playoff positioning. The Spurs (31-15) arrive as one of the West's biggest success stories this season, led by the impossible-to-miss Victor Wembanyama and a backcourt fueled by De'Aaron Fox. They're looking to shake off a recent stumble against the Pelicans and prove they're ready for a deep playoff run.
"He put in a lot of work and we've seen enough and felt [comfortable] enough to give it a go," Johnson said. "We'll be extremely mindful of this situation as we have been and will continue to be. It's just going to be one of those living-breathing kind of situations that we're going to continue to balance until we don't. And I would guess that won't be [just] this season."
The Knicks took care of business first, defeating the Orlando Magic 132-120 after a stellar performance from guard Jalen Brunson. He dropped a season-high 40 points, plus eight assists. It marked Brunson's 19th 40-point performance as a Knick, the third most in franchise history, according to ESPN Research. Knicks coach Mike Brown said Brunson's performance is "what MVPs are supposed to do."
Victor Wembanyama is one of the NBA's best players, but does he have a real chance to win his first MVP award this season after missing the past two weeks with a calf injury? The odds are against him -- he enters December at 150-1 to win the award on DraftKings Sportsbook -- but the San Antonio superstar shouldn't be counted out.
SAN ANTONIO -- San Antonio Spurs star center Victor Wembanyama will be sidelined for a few weeks due to a left calf strain, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania on Monday. The Spurs are erring on the side of caution in bringing back the franchise cornerstone, who underwent an MRI on Monday. Listed as questionable early Sunday due to left calf tightness, Wembanyama was ruled out ahead of tip-off of the Spurs' victory against the Sacramento Kings.
Doncic matched his career high for steals in a regular-season game Wednesday. The guard averaging 40 points per game claimed his defense was the only thing he did well on a night when he finished one rebound short of a triple-double. While collecting 35 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds, he was an inefficient nine-for-27 from the field and four-for-11 from three.
The premise is simple. Because of the different schedules across professional sports (the NFL plays only in the fall and winter, the NBA season doesn't start until mid-fall, etc.), there's an extremely small window in the year when all four of the major men's American professional sports leagues are all playing on one night. This year, Monday was that window.
While the Toronto Blue Jays were busy handling business against the Los Angeles Dodgers in a whopper of a World Series Game 3 at Dodger Stadium, the Toronto Raptors were getting their business handed to them nearly 1,400 miles away at Frost Bank Center against the San Antonio Spurs, falling 121-103 on Monday night. By the way, both the Raptors and Blue Jays games started at 8:00 pm ET.
Off the court, the league has been shaken by investigations related to illegal sports betting and rigged poker games. On the court, injuries and surprising surges have dominated the first week. Following 40-point performances from the Philadelphia 76ers' Tyrese Maxey, Utah Jazz's Lauri Markkanen, Denver Nuggets' Jamal Murray and Los Angeles Lakers' Austin Reaves on Monday, there have now been 16 40-point games, the most through the first seven days of a season in league history.
Last year, he took it to another level, dressing as No-Face, a character from the Academy Award-winning animated film "Spirited Away." Wembanyama wore an all-black one-piece fit and covered his face with the trademark mask. The costume preceded a 25-point, 9-rebound, 7-assist performance plus 5 steals and blocks each against the Utah Jazz -- the second time in his career he put up at least five each in five stat categories.
A thrilling start to the NBA season came to a screeching halt on Thursday, when Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and former player and coach Damon Jones were arrested as part of FBI investigations into illegal sports betting and rigged poker games. Questions remain on the status of those investigations. And while those indictments overshadowed the opening days of the NBA's 80th season, its first handful of games showed us plenty about what could be next on the court.
